The system of specially protected natural areas of the Far Eastern Federal District in atlas mapping

Abstract

This paper outlines the existing system of the system of territorial nature conservation in the Far Eastern Federal District as of 2017, the 100th anniversary of zapovednik management in Russia. Emphasis is placed on the importance of the primacy of the landscape approach in a further formation of this system as opposed to the currently dominant biological principle that declares conservation of rare and endangered species only. This is associated with the environment-forming function of landscapes, and with the need for the preservation of significant spaces typical for the Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts, each of which accounts for one-third of the area of Russia. The analysis of the system of specially protected natural areas demonstrated that in the Far East it includes a smaller number of protected areas; on the other hand, it is substantially more significant in diversity of categories and in the area than in Siberia. It is emphasized that among the nine regions of Siberian District, a special situation is emerging in Yakutia, because it has the largest number of protected areas, their proportion with respect to the area of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation is highest, and their diversity in categories is considerable. Also, it is the only region in all Asian Russia where the governance practices have retained the principle of division of the nature conservation and resource-use lines of activity. It is shown that the single-dimension (landscape) approach can be used in thematic atlas mapping to assess representativeness of the system of territorial nature conservation in the Far East at a large and medium scale, identify the distribution patterns of specially protected natural areas and determine their spatial overlaps. Illustrative examples are provided for the landscape structure and territorial overlaps in the case of Khoso National Park (Khabarovsk krai) and the South Kamchatka cluster of the Kamchatka Volcanoes Nature Park from the forthcoming Atlas entitled “Specially Protected Natural Areas of the Far Eastern Federal District.